How many Stradivarius violas are left?

Only about 650 surviving Stradivarius violins exist, and many of them are in the hands of private collectors, safely hidden from public view. There are even fewer cellos, about 55, and about 12 violas.

How much is a Stradivarius viola?

Wednesday, Sotheby’s auction house plans to announce the sale of a rare viola made by Antonio Stradivari. The minimum bid is $45 million. If it sells, it will be the most expensive instrument of any kind in history.

Who bought the 45 million dollar viola?

According to the New York Times, the viola had been sold in 1964 for $81,000, to Philips, the Dutch electronics company, which owned the Deutsche Grammophon record label and bought the instrument for Schidlof to play with the Amadeus Quartet, which recorded on the label.

Does Itzhak Perlman play a Stradivarius violin?

Perlman plays the Soil Stradivarius violin of 1714, formerly owned by Yehudi Menuhin and considered one of the finest violins made during Stradivari’s “golden period.” Perlman also plays the Guarneri del Gesù 1743 ‘Sauret’ and the Carlo Bergonzi 1740 ‘ex-Kreisler’.

Are there any Stradivarius violas?

It’s estimated that Stradivari made around 1,100 instruments, including violins, violas, cellos, harps, and even guitars. Today, only around 650 are known to still exist. The rarest Strads are his violas, as it’s estimated that he only made around fifteen of them.

What is the most expensive viola?

NEW YORK (Reuters) – A rare Stradivari viola, considered to be one of the finest in existence, is expected to fetch more than $45 million in a sealed bids sale this spring, which would set a world record for the most expensive musical instrument ever sold.

What is the most expensive viola in the world?

How much is a Stradivarius violin worth today?

Only about 600 of Stradivari’s masterpieces survive today, all prized by collectors and performers alike. A Stradivarius violin currently on the auction block-the first such sale in decades-is predicted to fetch up to $20 million.

How do you preserve a Stradivarius violin?

To Save the Sound of a Stradivarius, a Whole City Must Keep Quiet. The “Vesuvius” violin, made by Antonio Stradivari in 1727, in the Museo del Violino in Cremona, Italy. The museum is assisting with an ambitious recording project to preserve the sound of Stradivarius instruments for future generations.

Where did Stradivari learn his art?

Stradivari likely learned his craft by apprenticing with an older mentor, as was customary at the time. That could have been Amati, who, by the mid-17th century was well established and also living in Cremona, a city in what is now Italy.

Did young Stradivari apprentice with a master luthier?

Mauro Bernabei, a dendrochronologist at the Italian National Research Council in San Michele all’Adige, and his colleagues published their results last month in the journal Dendrochronologia, and their findings are consistent with the young Stradivari apprenticing with Nicola Amati, a master luthier roughly 40 years his senior.